PGA on Any Sport Any Time

For the second time this season, Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Saskatchewan is in the lead deep into a PGA Tour event.

This time however at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, DeLaet would like nothing more than to see his name at the top of the leaderboard. It would be a different result than his tenth place finish a month ago in Dallas after leading the Byron Nelson Championship on day three.

For the first time since the 1996 Masters, an Englishman has won a golf major.

On Sunday at the Merion Golf Club just outside of Philadelphia, Justin Rose became victorious despite the fact he shot a four round total of +1, two strokes better than fan favourite Phil Mickelson and Australian Jason Day.

For Mickelson it was the sixth time in his career he finished in second place at the U.S. Open. He has not won a U.S. Open in his career yet despite the fact he has won four career majors–three Masters and one PGA Championship.

Mickelson finished in second place despite the fact he had a spectacular eagle on the tenth hole. But on his 43rd birthday, Mickelson was unble to carry momentum on the back nine, as he had bogeys on the 13rd, 15th and 18th.

Rose was far from spectacular on Sunday, but didn’t make any huge mistakes unlike those who entered the day around him on the leaderboard. The last time an Englishman won a major was Nick Faldo, who won his sixth and final career Major title at the 1996 Masters in Augusta.

The Hunter Mahan tee shot on the 16th hole yesterday is a perfect example why golf is a terrible spectator sport and is so much better on television.

Mahan delivered a remarkable shot that only landed a few inches from the hole and basically no one was there to see it besides a few cameramen. That is because at the 2013 U.S. Open there are no bleachers on the 16th hole and no gallery. A few fans did cheer. But they had to use high resolution upscale binoculars to see the action.

There is doubt after two days of the 2013 United States Open, the course at Merion is winning. As of Friday, only two players were under par for the second major of the year– big game Phil Mickelson and little name Billy Horschel at one under par.

Prior to the tournament there was speculation that the course was goin to play easy because it was a short course of under 7,000 yards. But the course has bee anything but easy, as it has given players headaches on a regular basis. Round two ends Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. on TSN and continues throughout the day. Sunday’s coverage will start at 10:00 a.m.

Here are the other events I’ll be watching:

Saturday–IndyCar Racing–Milwaukee Mile–Sportsnet One–2:00p.m.– James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ontario will start second for the ninth race of the year behind American Marco Andretti. Hinchcliffe has had an up and down season as he won two races earlier in the year but has struggled since his win in Sao Paulo on May 5. He is also in a difficult position on Saturdy as he is also starting behind his Andretti Autosport teammate.

Former world number one Luke Donald of England leads after the first day of the 2013 United States Open. Donald, who is trying to become the first Englishman since Nick Faldo at the 1996 Masters to win a major, is at -4 and leads American Phil Mickelson and Masters champion Adam Scott by a stroke.

Donald and Scott still need to complete their first round, while Mickelson has completed his 18 holes. Donald still has five holes left, while Scott has seven holes left.

This is the biggest weekend for the year in auto racing, soccer and junor hockey.

In soccer, Borussia Dortmund will play Bayern Munich in the championship of the UEFA Champions League today in London. It marks the first time ever that two teams from Germany will be playing for the championship.

Borussia Dortmund is led by Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, who scored four goals in one game in Borussia Dortmund’s 4-1 win over Real Madrid in the semi-final. Bayern Munich meanwhile is led by midfielders Franck Ribery of France and Arjen Robben of the Netherlands, who have plenty of big game experience.The game can be seen on FOX at 12:45 p.m.

On Sunday, the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place with American Ed Carpenter on the pole. Carpenter has prior success at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as he won an Indy Lights race in Indianapolis in 2003. He has also won twice in IndyCar, 2011 in Kentucky and 2012 in Fontana, California. However his best finish this year has only been 14th.

For the second time in his prestigious professional golf career, Tiger Woods is the winner at the Players Championship. On Sunday, Woods defeated Americans Kevin Streelman and Jeff Maggert and Sweden’s David Lingmerth by two strokes after shooting a four round total of -13.

Woods won despite recording a double bogey on the 14th hole when his tee shot when in the water. At the time, he went down from -14 to -12 and allowed several other golfers back into contention.

One of those golfers was Sergio Garcia. Woods and Garcia rivalry heightened in the third round on Saturday when Woods made a switch of golf clubs (which generated a roar from the crowd) while Garcia was in the process of his approach shot.

One of the most exciting things about the Players Championship is that a new name emerges regularly as they compete against the household names in golf.

In round one, it was American Roberto Castro that shot a remarkable nine-under 63 and in round three the torch was passed to Sweden’s David Lingmerth who is tied for the lead at -11 with American Tiger Woods and Spain’s Sergio Garcia.

One of the most exciting times in the world of sports is simply game seven. That’s what we’ll have Sunday night in southern California as the Anaheim Ducks host the Detroit Red Wings.

Last night, Red Wings’ captain Henrik Zetterberg scored at 1:04 of overtime to give the Red Wings a 4-3 win over the Ducks to tie their Western Conference quarterfinal series at three games apiece.

The Red Wings might have a strong core of veterans, but after all these years are still getting it done. Goaltender Jimmy Howard is playing at an elite level as Detroit will look to move on during their last year in the Western Conference. How dangerous will Detrot be next year in the East? The answer is very. The game will be seen Sunday night on TSN at 8:00 p.m.

Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:

Saturday _ Sunday– PGA–Players Championship–NBC–12 p.m.– Spain’s Sergio Garcia, probably one of the best golfers in the world to have never won a major, currently leads Tiger Woods by a stroke after shooting a -11 at Sawgrass over the first two days of competition. Garcia and Woods have won the Players Championship once before– Woods in 2001 and Garcia in 2008. As for the first round leader, American Roberto Castro, he went from -9 to -3 and 1st to 30th after shooting a 78 on Friday.

On Thursday, American Roberto Castro shot a remarkable 63 to tie a course record at the Players Championship in northern Florida. Castro is in the record books with fellow American Fred Couples and Australian Greg Norman.

Castro’s nine under par, was highlighted by an eagle on the second hole. He also had seven birdies to no bogeys.

For the first time ever an Australian has won the most prestigious golf tournament in the world. On Sunday, Australia’s Adam Scott won the Masters by beating the Argentinian grandfather, Angel Cabrera, the 2009 Masters champion, in a memorable playoff.

Scott beat Cabrera by successfully executing two outstanding birdie putts. He forced a playoff by recording a birdie on the 72nd hole and then executed another birdie putt on the second hole (17th hole) of the playoff.

However the 2013 Masters will once again center around Tiger Woods. Questions remain whether or not Woods should have been disqualified for playing the ball two yards back from its original lie on Friday. There have also been reports that organizers might have kept Woods in the tournament because it would have significantly improved ratings. Either way, Woods’s stature as the number one ranked golfer in the world, and the fame he brings to the game, probably made a significant difference in him being allowed to continue on the weekend.

On Monday evening I was talking with Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun, who is in Augusta, Georgia this week as a fan at the Masters.

Eric asked me who I thought was going to win because he thought he would put some money on someone. Without hesitation, I replied “Brandt Snedeker”.

Snedeker was brilliant on Saturday down the stretch. He finished up with three birdies in the last six holes in shooting a three-under 69. Snedker, who has won already this year at the historic AT_ T Pebble Beach Pro-Am near San Francisco, will have to beat a two-time Major champion to prove my flawless accuracy.

That is because Angel Cabrera of Argentina is tied for the lead with Snedeker at -7. Others in contention for the first major championship of the season are a trio of Australians. Veteran Adam Scott is at -6, followed by Jason Day and Marc Leishman at -5. Matt Kuchar of the United States cannot be counted out as well at -4. Tiger Woods meanwhile is lurking at -3.

The biggest story heading into Saturday is Tiger Woods. According to CBS there was a possibility that Woods would be disqualified heading into the third round of the Masters (Saturday, CBS, 1:00 p.m.) for dropping his ball in an illegal area after his approach shot on the 15th hole hit the flag stick and went into the water. Woods apparently dropped his ball two yards back from where he should have dropped it.

However, according to ESPN, Woods was only given a two stroke penalty after officials reviewed the tape. Do you think Woods was given preferential treatment by officials because of his status or is a two-stroke penalty considered harsh enough? Please comment at www.anysportanytime.ca. One thing is for sure, and that is a major golf tournament with Tiger Woods boosts television ratings significantly more than a major golf tournament without him.

The second round of the Masters is now been complete with Australian Jason Day leading 1992 champion Fred Couples of the United States and fellow Australian Marc Leishman by a stroke at -6.

Day, shot a -4 on Friday, after golfing in the final pairing with Padraig Harrington and Rickie Fowler. The young Australian recorded a key birdie on the 16th hole to separate himself from the pack.

The second round of the 2013 Masters will also be remembered for a shot that wasn’t made. On the fifteenth hole, Tiger Woods’s approach shot hit the flag stick and went directly into the water. A sure birdie turned out to be a bogey.

Golf fans were also introduced to Tianlang Guan of China. At only 14 years of age, Guan made the cut at +4, despite receiving a one stroke penalty for playing too slow.